nuclear-news

The week in nuclear news

A bit of good news.  Australia – the leper of world climate politics, – is a leper no more. Beyond all expectations, we turfed out the corrupt and anti-environment Morrison Liberal Coalition government. The driving forces in this election were the Greens, and the very climate conscious ”teal” independents.  It seems that intelligent Liberals who care about the environment defected to the ”teals”, while intelligent Labor people who care strongly about the environment defected to the Greens. Either way –   Australia at long last will have a government that might work for the cause of a clean planet, and for addressing global heating, and climate justice.

Pandemic–  WHO chief: The COVID pandemic is ‘most certainly not over’

Climate – New IPCC Report: Addressing Climate Change Is Now About Damage Control 

Extraditing Julian Assange would be a gift to secretive, oppressive regimes.

War in Ukraine is getting complicated, and America isn’t ready 

Ukraine War Has No End in Sight.    Ukraine Contact Group: war used to expand global NATO.

NATO doubles members since 1999, completes sweep of Nordic nations . IT IS FOOLISH FOR FINLAND AND SWEDEN TO JOIN NATO.      Up to 100 U.S. nuclear weapons surround Russia’s border.       Disinformation’ Label Serves to Marginalize Crucial Ukraine Facts.

Switzerland: NATO swallowing Europe’s few remaining former neutrals .

Nuclear Bomb Blast Map Shows What Would Happen if One Detonated Near You.

New book – does nuclear power have a future?. Tritium isn’t harmless.

The Arctic Council (AC) and NATO aims conflict with no climate change mitigation.

 COP26: No countries have delivered on promise to improve climate plans. 1.2 billion people threatened by escalating heat due to climate change. Climate change: The global climate crisis is also a health crisis

UKRAINE. Chernobyl nuclear fears as forest near Exclusion Zone in FLAMES – emergency triggered      Ukraine controlled by US and UK – Russia. Injured troops to be evacuated from Azovstal – Moscow. Nuclear lobby happily predicts a bright and beautiful future for new nuclear reactors in Ukraine.

EUROPE. Borrell: EU defense chiefs to approve another half billion Euros to arm Ukraine — Anti-bellum. Russia’s grip on Europe’s nuclear power industry – this is being ignored. EU lawmakers move to block green investment label for gas and nuclear.

Unusually high temperatures to hit western Europe this week.Nuclear Fusion Is Already Facing a Fuel Crisis.

EU hits fast forward on renewables, including “massive deployment” of solar .

GERMANY. Germany to reject EU green investment label for nuclear power. Germany will vote against EU plans to label nuclear power as a green investment,.

FRANCE. France’s Nuclear Safety authority struggles with the problems related to corrosion in 12 reactors.     France’s nuclear corrosion problem will need a ”large scale” plan, and ”several years” to fix. 3 unplanned shutdowns of French nuclear reactors due to corrosion concerns, in the Framatome-designed piping.       EDF shares fall after new profit warning due to nuclear outages.    Nuclear: seven questions about the industrial disaster that threatens EDF.    France’s woes with nuclear power plants mean more energy uncertainty for Europe.

SWEDEN. Sweden’s Green Party demands nuclear weapons ban.

INDIA. Extreme heat hitting India.

PAKISTAN. Climate change makes record-breaking heatwaves in northwest India and Pakistan 100 times more likely.

RUSSIA. Five reasons that Russia’s nuclear exports will continue, despite sanctions and the Ukraine invasion. But for how long?

USA.

• $40 Billion More for the Ukraine War. invading Russia . 
•  Nuclear agency plans five new plutonium buildings at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Seismic Concerns at Los Angeles Nuclear Laboratory and Expanded Plutonium Pit Production.
•   U.S. extends application deadline for nuclear power rescue program. Environmentalists oppose possibility of extending the life of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. Entergy shuts down Palisades nuclear station ahead of time. Say No to Nuclear Power.
•  Back to square one for $28B nuclear management contract. 
• The U.S. energy secretary says it is critical to find a solution for storing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel. US Government Secret Files:
•   Human Experiments With Plutonium Side Effects.
• Don’t hold your breath waiting for NuScam‘s small nuclear reactors to be profitable.
• Americans Divided on Nuclear Energy.
•  Global heating brings megadrought and water shortages to over half of the USA.

CANADA. Opposition mounts against 25-year licence extension request from New Brunswick nuclear plant with no long-term waste disposal plan.

JAPAN. Magnitude 6.0 quake shakes Japan’s east and northeast. Japan OKs plan to release Fukushima nuclear plant wastewater. Nuclear expert reaffirms harm of dumping nuclear-contaminated water into ocean, calls on Japan to stop pressuring opposition voices.  Japan’s nuclear water disposal plan irresponsible.

SOUTH KOREA. New South Korean President plans to reverse the nuclear phaseout policy.       S. Korea denies report of alleged approval of Japan’s Fukushima water release plan.     Korea to keep close tabs on Japan’s Fukushima water discharge plan.

UK.

• Greens oppose Nato membership for Scotland and ‘evil’ nuclear weapons.
• Sellafield Update 2022. Strong community protest against planned Sizewell C nuclear plant for Suffolk. Beaches near Sellafield contaminated with radioactive particles.
• UK Ministers taking the public for fools, as they tout grandiose and delusional nuclear power schemes. Hinkley Point C – costs soar, delays again. UK govt’s big bet on nuclear is backfiring. Costs of Hinkley Point C nuclear station predicted to balloon out. £3 billion more, 1 year longer: EDF Energy announces latest price hike and further delay at Hinkley Point C.
• Organisation seeks assurance British nuclear will not rely on Russian uranium.
• Cost of shutting down UK’s old nuclear reactors is doubling and then some.
• UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee sets out the grim facts on costs of decommissioning nuclear reactors.
• UK Public Accounts Committee warns on need to double-check on safety of aging nuclear reactors.
• Webinar 25 May. Nuclear Free Local Authorities join with local governments to support UN Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
• Leaked emails expose UK Home Secretary Priti Patel’s connection to MI6-style ‘research and influence operations AND to extraditing Julian Assange. UK Home Secretary PRITI PATEL WAS PART OF CIA-LINKED LOBBY GROUP WITH HUSBAND OF ASSANGE JUDGE.

SOUTH AFRICA. Peter Becker, sacked from South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator Board, won’t go down without a fight.  From Russia with very expensive love – Karyn Maughan on South Africa’s bombed nuclear deal .

NEW ZEALAND. “We must wean ourselves off fossil fuels:” New Zealand launches “landmark” climate plan .

TURKEY. Turkish nuclear plant threatened by Russian sanctions.

MYANMAR. Invading Russia U.S., allies may be planning Ukraine proxy war model for Myanmar — Anti-bellum 

AUSTRALIA. Will Anthony Albanese and Labor have the guts to free Julian Assange? Australians have voted for bolder climate action and integrity in politics. 

May 23, 2022 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes